A minute is a certification or written testimony in which there is an account of what happened, treated or agreed upon in the event of any circumstance that warrants it, such as the meeting of a consortium, the election of a person for a position that may be public or private, the meeting of the board of directors of a company or organization, the record of a birth or any other fact that requires or demands the corresponding legal certification of something as having occurred due to its importance and because in the future, if the need arises, it can serve as evidence in a trial.[1]​.

The document that is written during a meeting by a person present at the meeting is called the minutes, and through which the topics that have been discussed are recorded, as well as the conclusions or agreements that have been adopted at said meeting.

The word "acta" comes from Latin and means "the facts"; Therefore, a minute is nothing more than a written testimony of the events that occurred in any circumstance: a consortium meeting, an assembly of members of a board of directors of any entity, a certification of the birth of a person, etc. That is, facts that are recorded in writing and that are important to record and preserve.[2]​.

There are some elements in common that all the minutes have: for example, they all offer a general vision or structure of what happened at the meeting, who the participants or attendees were, the details of the different questions or topics raised, what the debates were, and their conclusions, determining whether both the conveners and those summoned have reached an agreement, or not, on the issues that have been raised during its celebration.

There is no known standardized way to prepare a report. Many believe that whoever must do it must have a whole horizon of freedom to be creative, as long as they do not make the most common errors, which are: excessive details or the omission of fundamental points, which are later required for proof or claims.